Last Chance at Happiness
by TealyBob
Summary: Klaus shook his head. "I never saw this coming. Not in a million years." He leaned down and closed his eyes while he pressed his lips to his child's soft forehead. "I'm so sorry… Your father's a monster. And I'm afraid you'll never know what a real life feels like."


**This is a cute little one shot I fell in love with writing. The idea was suggested by IgnitingFireworks. Hope it's not too cheesy and random! **

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Klaus tilted his head in amazement at the child in his arms. She only gazed back in curiosity with her big blue eyes. Her lips were parted, like she was trying to sing a word with many o's. Her arms wondered in the air above her face, grabbing at it like she might actually catch something.

Klaus had no smile on his face as he watched her. Her head rested in his elbow and she lay on his lap. He was sitting on the couch in his living room, studying her.

This child, only five months old, was part of him. Caroline had kept the baby girl a secret from him while she was away in Ohio for vacation. She said she'd been afraid he wouldn't approve of having a daughter and try to disown (or possibly kill) her.

_That_ had been what angered him. He had a child, this small creature completely innocent and blind to all his mistakes. How could he possibly not want her? She was an angel to him. She didn't know the monster he truly was, and she didn't hate him. Granted, she was an infant, but the way she stared wide eyed at him made him feel acknowledged as something more than Klaus the Hybrid.

Klaus brought his finger up to her face. She didn't even look at his big hand, just managed to accidentally aim her hand and clutch her fingers around his. She continued staring at Klaus, making a kind of struggling noise. Then, as she waved her hand, along with Klaus' finger around, Klaus finally smiled a bit.

But the baby didn't register this genuine smile as the rare expression from Klaus that it was. In fact, it just threw her off and frightened her. Slowly, her face turned pained and her eyes squinted up at him as her noises got louder.

"Oh, don't you dare start crying," Klaus instructed, losing his smile.

And because the smile was gone, she stopped crying.

"There, now stay calm." The baby let go of his hand and started to wave her plump hands in the air frantically, throwing in a kick every now and then.

"I said calm," Klaus reminded as she started moaning again.

Caroline frowned from her room. She'd laid down for a nap, but the baby just wasn't going to give her a break. With a quick furious kick of her legs, Caroline swung herself out of bed and started going downstairs.

Klaus pointed in the baby's face as she started to cry. "Stop that." He'd never been good with kids. Normally, he would just frighten them to get them to cooperate. But this was different. He wasn't about to threaten his own child. So he'd just have to try to do things the normal way. "What do you want?" he questioned the pouty child. "You're not getting any idiotic noises or faces out of me."

Still the child wiggled around. Once again, she gave the impression she was about to explode into tears. Klaus shifted his arms, moving the girl in front of him, making sure to keep her head from falling back, like Caroline had strictly pointed out. The baby started crying loudly now, but no real tears fell.

"That's enough," he told her strictly. Nothing. He sighed. "If you don't quiet down, your mother is going to kill both of us," he told her.

Caroline stopped before she came around the corner into the living room. She instantly smiled as she realized Klaus was talking to their child. She hadn't seen him really show interest with Henrietta since she brought her home last week. He'd just been timid to even touch her. But now he was actually trying to connect with his daughter, and it took all Caroline had not to giggle in excitement.

She looked around the corner to see Klaus observing Henrietta in his arms. She was still crying. Caroline should have stepped in and helped, but she couldn't. Klaus raised his eyebrows at the baby. "Alright, you want faces? How about this?"

He slowly allowed his eyes to turn yellow and his teeth extended.

To his astonishment, Henrietta started to calm down. She even giggled once. Klaus frowned at her. "I'm threatening you," he informed her. She giggled more. "How is this amusing?"

Caroline heard her daughter's laugh and brought her hand up to her mouth to keep from making any giddy noises.

Henrietta waved her hands around, wiggling her fingers. "Great," Klaus mumbled. "You're already an optimist. Like mother like daughter…"

Caroline smiled gently. Klaus tilted his head at the baby. "You've got her eyes, too. And that, darling, is a huge compliment."

Caroline frowned and looked around the corner, wondering if he'd seen her. Nope, he still watched the girl in front of him. "I thought you were going to have my eyes there for a while. But you definitively have your mother's light. No doubt…"

The baby started playing with her face, trying to fit her hand in her mouth.

"You're lucky you have her eyes and not mine, darling," he told her as he moved her up against him. Caroline sobered at his words. "You're lucky you're even here. It's physically impossible for you to have been born to vampires…" He chuckled. "You're a miracle. I can't have kids. Yet here you are, slobbering all over your face."

He smiled as he used her blanket to wipe her chin off. Caroline started to smile again.

Klaus leaned back, holding Henrietta's head to his chest and staring down at her with an amused and confused expression. "I always wanted kids…"

Caroline felt her stomach clench up and her throat constrict.

Klaus shook his head. "I never saw this coming. Not in a million years." The baby grunted a few times. Klaus leaned down and closed his eyes while he pressed his lips to her soft forehead. He rested his cheek against her head, holding her close. "I'm so sorry…" Caroline frowned. "Your father's a monster. And I'm afraid you'll never know what a real life feels like."

Caroline sighed, feeling herself start to break. She walked into the room. Klaus looked up at her, a sad expression on his own face. She sat down next to him, watching him closely.

They held eye-contact. Klaus waiting for her to speak, and Caroline looking for words. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and placed her hand on his. She fought to speak through the building tears. "Look what you're doing," she managed to get out.

Klaus moved his hand to intertwine his fingers with hers. She shook her head and swallowed. "You're not a monster, Klaus," she told him with a waver in her voice. "You're her father, now. And you have to promise me. _Promise _me, that you won't run away. Even if you think you're doing it for her sake."

Klaus shook his head, looking down at their hands, right next to his child's head. "Caroline…she can't grow up with me around."

"She has to! She has to know her father," Caroline insisted, holding his hand more than tightly. "Please. There's nothing worse than growing up without one of your parents," she tried to tell him.

Klaus looked back up to her sharply. "What's worse is knowing your father killed thousands of innocent people!" he hissed.

The baby started to moan. Klaus lifted her off of him. "And knowing he could kill you at any second," he said, angry with himself as he handed the baby gently – but hurriedly – to Caroline.

Caroline was shocked as she took her child into her arms and stood up after Klaus. "Are you serious?" she exclaimed. "You're just leaving?"

Klaus turned around to face her with anger in his face. He pointed at Henrietta. "I could kill her," he hissed his warning.

Caroline felt a tear roll down her face. "But you won't! I know you won't."

Klaus exhaled in disbelief. "I killed my own parents!" he reminded in a loud voice.

Caroline looked down to Henrietta's face as she started to cry. She turned, heading to the baby's room.

Klaus stood still for a total of five seconds, then reached for his coat and made for the door.

But before he reached it, Caroline stood before him. "You're not going anywhere," she demanded.

"Caroline, I'm not fighting with you about this."

"No! You're not. Because it's settled." She took his coat from him and threw it to the side. "You're staying with me."

"Do you want a daughter, or do you prefer she possibly die at my hand?" he demanded.

Caroline reached forward and held onto the front of his shirt. "I want this daughter with _you_!" she insisted, shaking him, trying to get sense into his head. "Klaus, listen to me! If you think you can just leave and never see her again, you're kind of wrong."

"And how do you figure that?" Klaus snapped in her face.

Caroline shook him again. "Because I can't leave her! If you leave her, you leave me too. And I will _never_ forgive you," she yelled at him. Her tears had all fallen, and she was now left with anger.

Klaus registered her words, astonished he hadn't even thought of that. Leaving was a tad crazy, now. But Caroline knew he needed more persuasion. "You said you always wanted kids," she reminded him of the information she wasn't supposed to know. "And you never will again. She is the one child born from a vampire ever. This won't happen again." She laughed humorlessly. "Hundreds of vampires would kill for this. And you have it and you're just going to walk away!" she accused.

Klaus shook his head. "I might kill her," he said under his breath.

Caroline huffed. "Would you kill me?"

That hit Klaus. No. He could never hurt her. She was the one person on earth that was off bounds to his violence.

Caroline knew what he was thinking. "No. You wouldn't. Just like you won't ever hurt her."

Suddenly the baby in the other room started to cry loudly. Caroline pointed in the direction of the child. "That is your child. Your own flesh and blood, Klaus."

Klaus took a deep breath. He knew everything she said was true. He couldn't hurt the child. But he didn't trust himself. And this was the only child to be born to any vampires ever. He had been granted that when he saved the last female witch in existence. That was years ago, and they had finally decided to repay him.

With a child.

Henrietta truly was a gift he would never get another of. She would grow up and eventually die. He didn't have the chance to think about it for a century and then come back. It was her now, or never.

He closed his eyes, double checking every decision he'd made on the matter. He turned, looking down the hall way at the open door to the nursery. Without saying anything, he started walking down the hallway.

Caroline stayed put, not wanting to break the pull he was having towards the child. Caroline breathed deeply. She didn't know what she was up against, but she knew that these years ahead of her, she would need Klaus with her. This wasn't Twilight. She wasn't the sweet Bella, and Klaus for certain wasn't the young Edward. This was real. Klaus was a deadly wolf. She was a blood sucking cheerleader. And this was a human baby. That was at least eighteen years to come of completely blood control.

But she never felt the need to feed on her mother or Bonnie. There was no way she could even picture herself drinking off of her own child.

Klaus walked into the room, looking at the cradle containing his child. His baby girl. Henrietta. He rested his hands on the edge of the cradle, looking down at her crying eyes. She was tiny. And he created her. His best work of art.

Klaus sighed and hung his head between his arms, breathing deeply. He heard Caroline slowly and quietly walk to the door and watch him. He shook his head and looked back up at the child. Alright. He couldn't leave. He couldn't. He would lose his baby and his love. The two things he never thought he would find.

Klaus turned and looked at Caroline. "If I _ever_ show anger towards this child, you stake me instantly. Do you understand?"

Caroline exhaled her relief and came up to him exhaustedly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning on him for support. Klaus wrapped an arm around her and looked at his child as Caroline leaned over his shoulder in a wave of happiness.

Klaus nodded. This was insane, yes, but how often did he get to live a completely bizarre life like this? He'd killed many parents and children before. Maybe this was also the key to finally understanding who he had stripped of life.

Maybe this was the key to his lost happiness. Caroline and his daughter. This child. His one chance.

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**And if you read to the end, you're just a fabulous person! I love you!**

**Hope you liked it ;)**


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